Missouri State's College of Natural and Applied Sciences Public Lecture Series:

"Geotourism in Action!" by Linnea Iantria

In the past 20 years, a movement has emerged that recognizes the impact of tourism on  community, both positively and negatively. We have seen the successes of resort and theme park development, but we have also experienced the loss of culture, tradition, habitat, natural attractions and an increasingly large human imprint on the environment. We recognize the importance of tourism assets to a community and have addressed their importance in the Geotourism movement, both from the geographic and geologic perspective. While we have defined a need to protect our tourism assets, we have not clearly defined the roles of individuals who need to have to skills to implement that protection. We have not trained the individuals who will protect the very assets we have identified. This presentation has three goals. First, we will describe the new Missouri State University Bachelor of Science Degree in Geography-Geotourism and explain its components. Second, we will define what we believe is a viable, workable, Geotourism initiative. Third, we will look at the development of the Home Grown Highway project for Webster and Wright Counties, which incorporates the Geotourism concept.

Location: Missouri State, Temple 002

Open to all!

Please visit the CNAS page for more information: https://science.missouristate.edu